Snow fort building techniques from an expert

Cailan Laine Punnewaert lives in Muskoka, just outside of Port Carling, Ont. She enjoys making snow forts and snow sculptures with her mom, Debbie—they’ve even spent the night in one of their forts! The key to building a good snow fort, says Cailan, is “lots of snow and warm temps.”

Amanda Long and Jason Hewlett of Uxbridge, Ont., packed snow into recycling bins and then sprinkled water over top to help the bricks settle and freeze. Once frozen, they sliced the bricks in half to achieve the perfect thickness. Angling the bricks was challenging so they supported the interior with hockey sticks and shovels while it froze over.

Natasha Baguley of London, Ont., loves snow forts—so much so, in fact, that she builds one every year. This fully enclosed fort was built over the course of a couple weeks, allowing the base to solidify and strengthen. Then she added one layer of blocks at a time, slowly sloping inwards.

Phil Brick made this snow fort in Blind River, Ont., by cutting snow blocks, rolling large snowballs, and adding handfuls of packing snow. Look closely and you can see that this versatile fort even comes equipped with a snow toilet...because you never know.

Kim Switzer built this snow fort in the Algonquin Highlands over the course of eight to 10 hours using an Icebox igloo construction tool. Her daughter’s duck, Puddles, was pleased with the final result.

Sisters Julia and Mae Stockton of Toronto, Ont., added an epic archway to their snow fort. With the help of their dad, they stacked half-bricks with a slight lean until they were almost touching. “We had to hold them up while Dad lifted the keystone piece over our heads and put it in the spot to hold everything in place,” explains Mae. Then they added icicles to complete the ice-castle effect.

Don Pestill of Bay Lake, Ont., decided to put the snow mound left by the plow to good use. With the help of grandchildren Cadence, Brooklyn, Aubrey, Lucas, Harper, and Declan, they made this fun fort on the end of their driveway. They worked together using small snow shovels to dig out the entrance.

Building a snow fort is an annual tradition for Brian Bobechko and his family, who live in Woodbridge, Ont. Using the Icebox igloo construction tool made the job much easier than rolling snowballs or using blue box blocks.

The Bankerts family from Dauphin, Man., opted for a more colourful snow fort. They picked up inexpensive aluminum pans from a bargain shop, placed some food colouring in the bottom of the pans, and then filled them with water. Once frozen, they popped out the colourful bricks and added them to the fort.

If you’re looking for some additional inspiration, look no further than Jason Blakely’s Masters of the Universe-inspired snow castle. The Burlington, Ont. resident built this ambitious, one-of-a-kind snow fort after a historic snowfall last month. After piling the snow he let it freeze for a couple of days before carving out the design.